This handbook, issued in conjunction with the Governor's "Agenda for Excellence in Pennsylvania Public Schools," provides recommendations for revising promotion policies and practices in Pennsylvania schools. After a brief introduction, the results of a survey of promotion and retention practices are presented in summary form, followed by another brief summary of promotion/retention research studies. The main body of the handbook consists first of guidelines for developing or revising promotion/retention policies and procedures. These cover legal bases for policy, philosophy and goal, general promotion policy, developing criteria for retaining students, factors in the promotion/retention decision, alternatives to retention, who makes the promotion decision, and policy adoption and implementation. The next section provides descriptions of some promising practices, including early identification of problems, ungraded programs, home-school communication, mastery learning, tutoring, higher standards, and remedial/alternative programs. The handbook concludes with a checklist for policy development, and two appendixes provide sample forms and a review of the literature on social promotion and retention. (TE)

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